In a ranking of importance, this essay stands out among my writings.
I list below a group of words and concepts which in their mishandling are the bulwark of misinterpretation. To maintain these is to perpetuate the errors of misinterpretation that have dominated in the churches for approximately 1,925 years, and counting.
This list is not exhaustive, but it is representative of the problem. In fact, the Bible suffers this kind of abuse throughout.
These words treated this way are often the opposite of both their Biblical and common meanings.
First, though, I need to make a statement about the theoretical standing of Bible interpreters, whether they are “experts” among men or not. They fall into two main groups.
Some (I’ll list below as A) take the words we will look at and correctly say that they are words that carry their proper meanings, but that Jesus and His disciples were wrong about their pronouncements and expectations. These people stand in the category of the experts. They are often made up of scholars in the related fields of linguistics, language, culture and history. I’ve always found it incredible that men and women dare to say that Jesus and His apostles where wrong, but that later interpreters (whom they represent) are correct! The teachers were wrong. The students are right.
The others (I’ll list below as B) take the same words and incorrectly change their meanings to fit the churches’ notions and expectations of what they want Jesus to have said. They have a model of interpretation that they believe is inviolate. They hold it as sacred and untouchable. To challenge this model is seen by its adherents as blasphemous.
Now, to consider these words.
This first consideration covers several key words and a key concept. It is an epitome of the situation under consideration. It fully illustrates the erroneous condition of how teachers and interpreters mishandle certain teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
According to Matthew and Andrew, Jesus said to His listeners that the coming (the second coming) of the Son of Man was near, right at the door. “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
Andrew is almost an exact rendition of Matthew. He adds the word “happening” or “occurring”, that is, when you see these things happening then recognize that I am near, right at the door!
Luke’s rendition was that when Jesus’ hearers saw His words being fulfilled, that the Kingdom of God was near. Jesus used the exact same illustration to teach his hearers who were present with Him. He used the same words of finality. However, Luke substituted “the Kingdom of God is near” for “I am near or He is near”.
Interpreters listed as in group A above are faithful to the meanings of the words used by Jesus and reported by the three synoptic narrative writers. They teach that Jesus and His apostles really believed that He would return in glory with His angels to establish God’s fulfilled Kingdom within 40 years, or more precisely, within the lifetimes of those who heard Him teach. They understand the full force and meanings of the words used. Their remedy, their solution that solves the dilemma of these things not occurring according to their interpretive model (which drives and determines all things) was and is to conclude that Jesus was mistaken!
Interpreters listed as in group B above are very unfaithful to the meanings of the words used by Jesus and reported by the three synoptic narrative writers. They teach that Jesus and His apostles never intended for His followers to believe that His second coming in glory would occur within the lifetimes of His hearers who were present with Him before He was crucified. This second group does great violence to the meanings of the words by spiritualizing them and so changing the meanings of the words. In their ongoing and impoverishing model, there was no real first century audience to Jesus’ words. His message overlooks His hearers and applies to the distance future of would-be Bible readers. While generation after generation claims that His words apply to their time, His words gain futuristic traction has they are catapulted forward to the next series of generations because (as they have concluded through their theoretical evidence) they have yet to be fulfilled.
Hear the facts. Jesus told His hearers who were very familiar with the imminent coming of summer as revealed in the leafing of fig trees to gather a very important lesson from that knowledge. He said that in the same way that they rightly understood that summer was near through the signs of nature, they should understand by the fulfillment of His prophecies that His return was also imminent. His prophecies focused on calamities, hatred, and wars. The wars were to culminate in the profanation of the temple as the master sign. The phrase He used about His coming was that it was near, at the doors. Eggus (translated near) is used 30 times in the New Covenant writings and always means close at hand, near in proximity, or imminent. It never has the meaning group B gives it. In never means far away, remote, later, or distant. By spiritualizing the word to accommodate and support their theory of fulfillment, group B has turned the meaning inside out and given it a meaning opposite to that as used by Jesus. The purpose is to always support a philosophical theory of futurism. In this model near can easily mean far in the same way that few can mean many.
Jesus used a double statement to underscore the nearness of His second coming. He said He would be near, at the door. At the door means exactly what is says, and means the same in the Scriptures. It has the same meaning that is used in modern times. It really needs no comment. This supporting phrase is simply dismissed by group B. All it does in their scheme is to keep everything in a hyper-spiritual state of expectation.
The next word has especially been the receptacle of foreign and forced interpretation. It is the word generation. Jesus said of His contemporaries, that this generation would not pass until everything had been accomplished. This word and this word in this statement have been pivotal in the interpretive models of futurism. The main (and modern) avenue of application has been that after Israel became an independent nation, Jesus would come again in glory. The event referred to occurred 77 years ago, so the model is outside of the normal 40 year time-frame understanding of generation by two-fold. The model has already disproven itself by its own standards, but people always find a way to further spiritualize and extend prophecy. A second method of extension, which keeps the promise still future and still active, is to change the meaning of the word generation and give it the meaning nation. In this model the nationalizing of Israel is the starting point rather than the short-lived inclusive point. Both of these interpretations are false because they mishandle the word in two key ways. First, they disregard the disciples to whom Jesus was directly speaking. Secondly, they use arbitrary and subjective rules for interpreting Jesus’ prophecy. They make the present readers of the Bible the audience to whom Jesus is always speaking. This model extends futurism by doing what false interpretation does as its hallmark. It changes meanings of words to maintain its standing. We just examined this feature in the changing of the word “near, at the door” to mean “distant, whenever”. Remember, the very words retain their spellings. It is their meanings that are changed. Hence, the force of the interpretations.
To hear Jesus in the prophecy is to hear Him speak to His immediate followers. He told them what exactly to look for. He told them that He would return in glory within their lifetime. He told them that these words were assured by employing a technique that He used in other places. He said, “Truly I say to you…” God has no need to underscore His own words. Sufficient as such are the very living words of God. Yet, to fortify the faith of His disciples He said to them “Truly, I say to you”. The double word (so to speak) brought absolute force to the reliability of the truth that those following Jesus Christ who would directly witness His crucifixion, resurrection from the dead, and ascension to God’s right hand to rule would also directly witness His second coming with His angels in glory before they themselves died!
Look at the word translated generation. The words genea (singular noun - 17 times) and geneai (plural noun - five times) and geneais (plural noun - two times) are all used for a total of 24 times and they all translate as generation in the New Covenant Scriptures. They always mean the approximate 40 year period applying to a birth generation. In 22 of these cases they always apply to the generation or people then present. Only twice do they apply to past generations. Never do they apply to future generations. They never translate as nation or race. There is a word that translates as nation or race. Genos and its derivatives are used for a total of 21 times in the New Covenant Scripture. The meanings range from race, nation, family, country, descent, birth, offspring, and kind. Genos has a much broader application than the narrowed and singularly focused word genea, which means generation understood to span a 40 year period. The various meanings are justified in the various translations of the Bible where the word appears. One time the King James Version mistranslates genos as generation. However, the polished secretary Silas, writing on behalf of Peter did not use the word genea, the KJV mistranslated word. He used genos when stating that the people of God were a chosen “race”.
The statement under consideration ends with a conceptual fact as referred to earlier above. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Like the words themselves, entire concepts have been misunderstood and so misinterpreted. This concept simply means “The Law of Moses will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Heaven and earth are formulaic and mean a sacred-political and/or secular-political administration, used by God in the furtherance of His plans. The subjective, material and crass interpretation of this phrase has served to bolster the false words and notions used by those who misinterpret Jesus and give more weight to their positions.
When people put aside the false models of interpretation, which are formulated to maintain a certain subjective platform, at that point they are ready to approach the Bible as it should be received, as the teaching of the Teacher. To hear Jesus speak is to hear Him speak as He did, not to “hear” Him speak as one wishes He spoke.
This one example of how not to interpret the Bible and how to interpret the Bible goes a long way in these areas. I will mention one other place for instruction. Unlike closely examining the Scripture above, I will simply make comment relying on the rules of interpretation.
Paul said to the Thessalonians, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you will not grieve as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we declare to you according to this word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
In order to comfort the grieving Thessalonians who were concerned that their deceased fellow-believers would miss the glory of Jesus at His second coming, Paul assured them that they would in fact partake of that glory before the ones he wrote to would experience it because they would be transformed first in honor and position in Jesus’ glorious coming itself! Paul wrote to actual first century Thessalonians to inform them that they would, as living people, be caught up into the presence of Jesus to join their deceased (sleeping) fellow Thessalonians who had been exalted (awakened and risen) before them in glory! He culminated his encouragement by stating that all in Jesus, the previously believing who were then dead and his letter recipients who were obviously then living, would be caught up and remain with Jesus forever in the clouds of the air, the former domain of Satan, who had been thrown down! The Prince of the Power of the Air was to be thrown down into the Lake of Fire and the sons of God, who included all of the Thessalonian believers, would assume their rightful place in glory, as Jesus had taught. This great event was future to Paul, being some 15 or so years until complete fulfillment. It is our inheritance as believers, having been fulfilled.
When key words and concepts are understood the maintenance of error ends.